


Puss in Boots

by Doorway



Category: Stand Still Stay Silent
Genre: Adventure, Emil being Emil, Fluff, Gen, Jealous Lalli, heroic Kitty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-11
Updated: 2016-06-11
Packaged: 2018-07-10 13:10:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6986428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Doorway/pseuds/Doorway
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Emil and Kitty form a team!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Puss in Boots

The day began with Lalli hissing at his shoes.

No, really.

Emil knew there were still a lot of things he didn't get about Lalli, but the sight of the Finn looming over and hissing at Emil's boots was certainly one he didn't expect.

His first thought was that a vermin beast had sneaked into the tank and hid in his shoe. Visions of Tuuri's and Reynir's imminent deaths soon followed in his imagination but he quickly disregarded those: if an actual _beast_ had entered their car, he had a feeling Lalli would be less vocal and more violent.

His second thought was that Lalli couldn’t stand the smell (and who could blame him?). This being the most reasonable explanation and Emil being a logical person, he promptly moved to pick up his shoes and take them outside, a heartfelt apology forming on his lips.

“I’m sorry Lalli, I hadn’t realized they smelled so bad… Oh.”

He was greeted with the sight of Kitty sleeping soundly in his left boot.

“Oh” he said again quietly.

She was curled into a tiny furry ball, her eyes closed and relaxed, the tuft of her tail the only part of the kitten clearly visible.

One of her ears twitched.

“Oh no!” Emil said and regretted it immediately after. He should let her sleep! He shouldn’t make any noise! Kittens needed a lot of sleep to grow properly, and the poor thing had had many scares during the last few days, what with losing its mom and siblings and almost dying by that horrible snow troll and then-

Why did she have to sleep in _his_ boots? Not that he didn’t appreciate her affection, but where did it come from? It was Reynir who played with her and Mikkel who fed her. So why him? And, most importantly, why _now?_ Any moment now, Sigrun would ask him-

“EMIL GET YOUR WARRIOR BUTT OUT HERE!! AND BRING THE STICK MAGE TOO!!” an infernal yell interrupted his thought process.

-that.

“O-one moment!!” he yelled back.

Glancing down, he saw that the furball was still sleeping soundly. She must have gotten used to Sigrun’s yells by now.

Well then.

Just remove Kitty, put on his boots, and be on his way.

Just… remove one kitten from its bed, wear said bed on his feet and step on it.

Just… uh… just wake a tired kitten from its cozy sleep.

Uuuh…

Several times his hand started towards the interior of the shoe to pick Kitty up. Each time, it stopped mid-air. Equally many times he started to leave the boots softly in the floor where he had found them, realized he was being stupid, and moved to hold them back against his chest.

Indecisive, he turned to look at Lalli, who was staring at him with what looked like an expression of pure betrayal.

Well.

It’s not like Lalli could sell him out even if he felt like it, right?

With super smooth movements, he placed the Kitty-containing-boot in a large pocket of his coat. He left the pocket half-open to allow Kitty to breathe, and was satisfied to feel the softest purr coming from his pocket.

Lalli’s obvious disapproval intensified.

Well then.

 _That’s_ settled.

Trying to ignore the scout’s seething glare, he considered wearing the other boot, decided he would look far too stupid and promptly walked outside, stuffing it in another pocket and motioning for Lalli to follow him.

Would Sigrun notice he was only wearing his socks? He had a feeling she might not… As long as he could keep up until Kitty woke, then he could wear his shoes and everything would be ok…

*****

The snow greeted him with an icy hug the moment he stepped outside.

To Emil’s relief Sigrun did not notice. She wasn’t even looking at him when she gestured for them to follow her. But even if she did look, what with his legs being half-submerged into the snow, anything below the ankles was invisible. This could work.

This _would_ work.

It took a while for the freezing sensation to get to his toes, but after trudging the first twenty steps he was already starting to regret his decision. They were too far away from the tank now, too late to return Kitty to the safety of its interior, too late to backtrack without Sigrun realizing what he had done and probably criticizing him for it. He just had to bear it until Kitty awoke.

Keeping up with Sigrun and Lalli (who was pointedly looking away now) wasn’t that hard, for now. It wasn’t colder than back home, and he had walked out to play on the snow without gloves or a jacket many times as a child, but digging your toes in the snow was different. His socks were beginning to get wet from the warmth of his feet, and Emil knew he couldn’t tolerate this much longer without risking disfigurement for life in terms of losing his precious toes.

He solved the problem by stepping more energetically, bouncing more and wiggling said toes. He had seen Lalli standing still in a snowdrift in his _socks, without batting an eyelid_. If Lalli could do it, so could _he._ Otherwise everyone would think him weak, and he definitely was _not_ weak.

He just had to bear with it…

*****

Emil was surprised to find he actually _could:_

Trudging in the snow had been a freezing torture at first, then it began getting painful, then his toes started to go numb. At that point he knew he didn’t have much choice. He had to do it.

Emil told Sigrun he needed to make a quick pit stop and motioned for her and Lalli to go on ahead. He knew he would be able to catch up to them more easily afterwards.

He quickly hid behind a small cluster of trees. After making sure no one was watching him, he balanced carefully on one foot and removed the wet sock. Shifting his weight, he did the same to the other foot, all the while being careful not to make any sudden movements and startle Kitty awake.

There.

It was done.

Stuffing his socks in a pocket, he checked to make sure Kitty was still sleeping; and she was, poor thing, her back rising and falling soundly, in deep sleep.

And after that, everything was much easier! The snow wasn’t too cold, he wasn’t wearing wet socks, and blood started rushing back into his toes, mixing pain with relief. He wiggled them as he walked, satisfied with the outcome. Now everything could go on as planned. And, well, when the time came for him to enter a building, where there would be no snow to hide the indications that he was carrying a passenger…

*****

“Where are your _boots_ , boy?”

“Uh…” Emil glanced down at his red toes.

There it was. They were inside the building now. No way to back at what he had done. He had jeopardized the entire mission, hadn’t he. Put everyone in danger. What if they needed to run and he wasn’t up to the task? What if someone stayed behind with him? What a disaster!

Ashamed, he hung his head (from the corner of his eye, he could tell that Lalli was glaring at him with an expression that signaled that Emil deserved whatever he got) and waited for the verdict.

Next thing he knew, Sigrun’s frown broke into a giant grin and she slapped him hard on the back.

“What a spirit! I’m impressed. Few warriors back home were berserk enough to venture out troll-hunting with no shoes! True, sometimes they lost a couple of limbs as a result, but what a thing!” She slapped him again, and Emil’s face felt so rushed with blood he thought he would pass out. “Next time try to not do that, though, unless you want our not-doctor to take care of your stumps in the future. Let’s speed this trip up.”

 And she moved on cheerfully to head into the next room.

Emil was left alone with Lalli. The scout was staring incredulously at their captain’s receding back, then hissed with such spite Emil decided not to approach him for the next few hours.

And in fact, when came the time they had to split up to hunt down a troll that Lalli sensed, Emil made a point of going on his own instead of following anyone. Better give the scout some space.

*****

The building they were in was an old brick mansion with thick walls and countless rooms. Emil already had the feeling of being lost as he wandered down yet another corridor. Various pieces of furniture were stacked against the walls, along with various ornamental objects: vases, paintings, sculptures all piled atop one another. _Anything_ could be lurking in the shadows, and Lalli’s distress didn’t provide any information on the exact nature of the threat. Emil spent half of the time swirling around to check behind his back, the ceiling, beneath tables and through cracks on the wall.

No troll to be seen.

His fingers reached into the pocked absentmindedly to stroke Kitty’s fur. Soon after Lalli had frozen and shut his eyes tight, Emil had felt her puff up noticeably in his pocket, a silent confirmation of the danger the scout had picked up. She had calmed down now, but he still had no idea where the troll was. It would be a great help to take her out into the open right now and point her at various directions, as Sigrun had done that one time, but Emil really wanted to avoid that. Poor Kitty would be so scared to be held towards a troll…! Emil wouldn’t be able to stand it were he at her place. Plus what if she panicked and escaped his grip?

Emil reached a compromise.

Glancing around one last time, he took the Kitty-containing boot out and held it in one hand. That should do it. Kitty would feel more secure inside the boot, plus it would be harder for her to run off.

He outstretched his arm in various directions, Kitty being quiet and calm the whole time. Relieved, Emil kept walking down the corridor.

It was more than five minutes later when he thought to check and discovered Kitten sound asleep in the warmth of his shoe.

*****

Dumb, ungrateful cat.

Why did he expect anything different, really? She was untrained. Young and tired. Of _course_ she would fall asleep inside a _troll-infested building_ instead of exercising her _one_ talent!

On the other hand, Emil really needed her right now, and after everything he had done for her, it would be nice if she could return the favor…

Grumpy, he trudged on the dust-covered paths. He still held the Kitty-boot tight against his chest, just in case she woke up and decided to help, but after wandering around dark corridors in complete silence for more than ten minutes it became obvious that this was not going to happen. Kitty might wake up if a troll was right upon them, but she would not budge when the metaphorical coast was relatively clear. She would be no help in locating the troll whatsoever.

Kitty did not wake up when he walked along a corridor filled with the creepiest pictures he had ever seen: dark monstrous figures sitting around in the dark, a man with a deranged expression eating a child, and Emil could look no more. He kept his eyes straight ahead to the part of the corridor illuminated by his lamp.

Kitty did not wake up when he slipped on a sludge-filled part of the floor, waved his non-cat-carrying arm around to keep his balance and half-crashed, half-leaned against a table.

Kitty did not wake up when he entered a large, spacious room, its walls covered by large bookcases carrying huge leather-bound tomes, a piano in the center.

He pressed a key gingerly; a gentle sound emanated from the instrument. It still worked! A bit out-of-tune, but nonetheless… A deep longing consumed Emil and he turned away, doing his best to ignore the piano; his parents had once hired a tutor to teach him how to play, and he had reached an advanced level very quickly. The piano had been sold along with everything else, and Emil would love to play again, but unfortunately this wasn’t the time or place. When he got back to Sweden, famous and successful, he would use some of the money to buy the best piano. For now, he concentrated on the potential money that lay on the shelves in the shape of books.

He examined a couple of them carefully. Troll or no troll, more books were always valuable, and these seemed to be in good shape, protected deep within the bowels of the building. This would work. He should get back at their meeting place and tell Sigrun. If none of the others had found the troll, maybe it had left the mansion and it was safe of them to get back here and-

The slight stirring inside his boot was the only warning he got before a giant weight crashed on his back, smashing him against the bookcase and disappearing as abruptly as it had come.

Dazed and slumped against the floor as heavy books started falling around him, he only had time to instinctively toss the boot away from harm’s way before the hostile weight returned atop of him with a vengeance.

He struggled against the combined weight of the books and the spluttering troll slashing at him in the dark, without being able to draw a breath; the air had been knocked out of him and his midsection hurt so bad he could not draw another breath. He tried to shield himself with his arms; seized a book to deflect a claw aimed at his face, knocked the troll on the head with said book. His aim was off; the book simply grazed against it. The troll made a strange hollow sound but didn’t get deterred by the pain; on the contrary, it lunged at him anew, stepping on his stomach just as he was about to draw breath and snapped the book away from his hand, tearing it up.

Now frantically trying to breathe, Emil finally managed to unsheathe his knife and attempted to slash at the thing; it was made almost impossible by the weight pinning him to the ground and the countless torn pages fluttering at his face, obscuring his vision. Yet he was sure the knife connected, and he heard the exact same hollow sound before a great pressure clenched around the fist, immobilizing his arm.

It was biting his hand. He groped around blindly with the other one, searching for something to use as a weapon, his legs kicking uselessly against the weight, which soundlessly moved to rest completely against his torso.

He would never breathe again; he had drawn his last breath a long time ago, right after he had pressed that piano button. Now the troll was smothering him out of existence and he couldn’t make a sound.

A lone sweet note rang against the muffled noise of their fight, and the troll froze. Emil tried to think of where the sound had come from, but his thoughts had become slurred and hazy, and he didn’t really have the strength to raise his head and peer into the darkness. He lay beneath the troll, twitching, as more of these strange sounds followed in an angry rapid succession. Out-of-tune, detached from any melody, leaving strange echoes in the room… His small pudgy hands touching a keyboard for the first time as he sat in his mother’s lap one sunny evening…

A great weight lifted from his chest as the strange sound repeated itself, as if tiny Emil was banging his fist against the piano keys…

He drew a shallow breath.

The sound of intense hissing reached his brain; he managed to regain enough awareness to look for the source.

Kitty, all fluffed up, eyes wide, was standing on the keyboard of the piano, hissing at the troll which approached her at its leisure.

Emil struggled to get up, to regain his bearings.

Go away. Run. Why are you standing there, he wanted to say, but no voice could come out of his throat. His breaths were still shallow, his movements still sluggish.

In the light of the fallen lamp, he saw the outline of troll’s head freeze and then turn towards him and the pathetic sounds he had been making.

He hurried to get up, the result being him only tilting forward in his daze. Where was the knife? And he couldn’t move his right hand at all…

The troll moved towards him and once again, he could only reach for a book with his left hand. Where were Sigrun and Lalli?

The same piano note filling the room again and again.

Incredulous, he stared as Kitty jumped up and down, bringing her whole body weight against the key again and again, the troll’s face once more turning towards her…

Clarity finally burst through Emil’s mind.

Moving swiftly, he looked around, grasped his knife with his left, good hand and lunged for the troll’s back before it had time to understand what had happened.

This time the knife was plunged deep into its neck, and Emil stabbed several times, using his own weight to pin the troll to the ground.

It was over in a few moments.

Silence spread to the room. No more out-of-tune piano notes. Not more thumbs of books falling. And after a short while, the troll’s raspy breaths quieted down as well.

Emil took several deep breaths and looked at his hand, inspecting the damage.

All bruised and cut in a few places. Maybe he had broken something? It was hard to tell. He would have to show it to Mikkel.

A soft mewling interrupted his thoughts, and he looked up in time to see Kitty jumping from the piano and rushing towards him, where she used her tiny claws to climb up his clothes in a frenzy, until she reached and nestled against his neck, mewling all the time.

Emil could feel her tremble against him, and he immediately dropped the knife and used his good hand to soothe her.

“Shh… I know, I know… You were very brave… You saved my life!”

*****

Emil had a hard time putting his boots back on with one injured hand, gathering the knife and lamp back on his person, but somehow he managed. He didn’t want to disturb the scared kitten desperately clinging on him, and he could only hold her against him with his good hand to reassure her.

He felt lightheaded during the whole walk back to the meeting point, passing through the same dusty corridors as if in a daze.

When he reached Sigrun and Lalli, they immediately started towards him, looking alarmed. He must have been looking terrible. He did his best to calm them down and explain what had happened, that they were safe now, although he still found it a little difficult to speak.

Sigrun inspected his injured hand closely, said something Emil couldn’t quite catch. Something about his head? She moved to take Kitty from him, presumably to free both his hands and make it easier for him to lean on her.

Kitty refused to budge.

She didn’t want to be away from him.

Which didn’t make sense. As her previous actions didn’t make sense! He wasn’t the one taking care of her, and especially this time, he had gotten her in trouble…

 _Then_ Emil remembered.

That’s right. He had saved her life that first day. Carried her away from the flooded den, all the way to the tank, warped her in warm towels.

That’s why she always felt safe with him.

Kitty yawned, and Emil held her close against his chest, her tiny heartbeat next to his stronger one.

“Ok, now I’m _sure_ you have hit your head if you’re smiling at a time like this! It’s not like you!"

Emil just held Kitty closer.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi fellow SSSS fans!  
> Here is the Emil-Purrito (now officially Kitty) fic, it is finally ready and posted!  
> I hope you enjoyed it!


End file.
